Veterans urge Palm Beach County to close schools on Veterans Day

More than a dozen members of the Jewish War Veterans asked the Palm Beach County School Board on Wednesday to honor living veterans by closing all county public schools on Veterans Day.

"We teach our children respect and about world history," said Burt Richards, 80, of Boynton Beach. "But we teach them nothing about the veterans who have kept the students of our country safe and free."

All 187 schools are scheduled to be open on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, while schools in Martin, St. Lucie, Broward and Miami-Dade counties will be closed.

The county's public schools have been closed on Veterans Day for the past several years. When schools are closed on Election Day, as they will be this year, they're open on Veterans Day.

The district has maintained that students are better off attending school on Veterans Day and receiving a history lesson in class instead of staying home.

But that doesn't make veterans like Ralph L. Shear happy. Shear, 87, said the school district needs to act quickly to close schools.

"We're well up there in our 80s," Shear said. "We can't wait any longer. We're dying at the rate of 1,000 a day."

For legal reasons, the board could not take any action at its meeting on Wednesday, but the new board could revisit the issue after the Nov. 2 election.

The district, however, said it will pay respect to veterans by holding various activities on or around Nov. 11.

Independence Middle students, for instance, are scheduled to visit a veterans hospital. Spanish River High students will be shooting a veterans tribute video.

"We want to make sure our students are aware of what you have done," said Ann Killets, the district's chief learning officer. "We want to have a generation of students who are proud of our country."

Board member Debra Robinson proposed the district craft a veterans-themed curriculum so students could get a first-hand history lesson on Veterans Day.

Robinson also recommended that the district create a list of veterans who can share their experiences with students. Those talks, Robinson added, should be recorded on video.

"I learned more about history talking to veterans than I did in school," she said.

Veterans, however, still prefer having the schools closed on the federal holiday.

"Do the right thing for the kids and honor the veterans," Charles Epstein, an 89-year-old World War II veteran, told the board. "And honor your own conscience when you leave this board and go home."